Upon hearing about the RIAA and it's lawsuits, one of the boards I post to's resident MS Paint artist designed this baby. Click to enlarge.

Thursday Link Day

It's a special Link Thursday to help all of our possible file sharing kin with the latest RIAA tantrum.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Among many other useful things, our friends at EFF teach us "how not to get sued".

Dan Peng: One of the first of many raises funds for his lawsuit. $15K is a lot of bucks.

Anti File Sharing Groups: More information about file sharing and the bastards who spy on you than you'll ever need to know. Guides for those that are using p2p software or may or may not have legal or illegal mp3s on their harddrives.

Chilling Effects: You've been sued. Now what?

I Guess It Helped

I got up this morning and my hair was all over the place, so I reached for a spray bottle to smooth it down. The first bottle was broken. The second bottle was filled with cat shampoo (GRAEME!). I didn't realize this until about 7 or 8 sprays into it. So I had to get a shower, which in turn smoothed away the bed head.

Changes

All things are changing. Some of you know some of them, a couple of you know all of them.

So let's get down to business:

1. I'm going to be on the broke side of the tracks REAL soon. On one hand, lack of income for me is going to suck--especially with Grae's income taking a nose dive. On the other I fucking quit eight months ago. I leave Westcoast in a month's time. This is nice. Gives me a month to decide what I want to do (student loan? part time min. wage job?) as well as gives me a month to continue "working." I am not upset, but it definitely changes the whole Clubhouse events thing (sadly these things tend to cost money). I'm going to try to work things out, but we'll see.

2. I've lost a significant amount of weight. You'll notice next time you see me.

3. Christian (for those who remember this 'merkin) is looking to come up more often and attend more social events. A Clubhouse event may be done to collide with the visit schedule. We'll see (see: no. 1).

For more information on any of these changes, I'll be around. You can email me, phone me, visit with me (just not visit me).

One Movie, Two Endings!

A damn popup ad just informed me that there is an alternate ending to 28 Days Later, that one can only view currently by sticking around until the credits are done. I did just that and there was no alternate ending. I look into things further, and lo and behold, it is a new addition to the film, no doubt concocted to get people to view the film a second time! Those bastards! I really enjoyed the film (enough that even though I had downloaded it before it was released over here, I waited to see it in the theatres), but I don't think I'll make a point of seeing it again in theatres just for a last minute addition designed to drum up business. Anyone see the alternate ending? Care to let us know how it turned out?

Art

Adventures from my Inbox

Pick a band and answer only using that band's song titles:
radiohead

Are you male or female? Cinnamon Girl (cover)
Describe yourself. I Am a Wicked Child
How do some people feel about you? Give It Up, Worrywart, Scatterbrain, Paperbag Writer, Life In A Glass House
How do you feel about yourself? Prove Yourself, Inside My Head, Citizen Insane
Describe your significant other. Faithless, The Wonder Boy
Where would you rather be? Black Star
Describe what you want to be. Lucky
Describe how you live. Exuberance & Alcohol (unreleased)
Describe how you love. I Want To Know, I Can't, Paranoid Android
Share a few words of wisdom. Everybody Lies Through Their Teeth

Clubhouse Cancellations (left, right and centre)

Due to forseen circumstances, as well as many other circumstances, all Clubhouse events are on indefinite hold.

Details may or may not show up here.

Canadian Horror Night: The Tax Shelter Years

hello all,

a big thank you to everyone who showed up for the last lari the leper craptacular night (c & g, no thanks to owen). based on the strength on this, and other movie nights, the beejster & i would like to do a series of double bills around themes of our own choosing. our aim is threefold:
1. get together regularly with our friends/meet new people (our old friends should brind new friends...)
2. finally watch all those movies we've been meaning to/improve the depth of our film knowledge
3. start a base for the proposed "lari the leper treat society" (details to follow).

so... on aug 5th (tuesday) we are proud to present 2 of the handful (and by handful i mean 5) of decent films to come from Canada during the ill-conceived "tax shelter period" (don't worry, an informative & brief presentation on recent canadian film history will preceed the screening, so you'll know what the hell i'm talking about):
the changeling [1980] & black christmas [1974] a.k.a silent night, evil night
also, in keeping with the theme we plan on having maple syrup popcorn & beer available.

~meeko

rsvp filmgurl79 at hotmail dot com so we know how much popcorn to make.

p.s. we do plan on doing a part 2 to this event where we'll show "gingersnaps" as one of the films. suggestions appreciated for a second film for this night.
p.p.s. bj would like to make a neurotic commitment not to get stoned and stupid this time.

Clubhouse Summer Postponed

Due to everyone not being available August 16th is a no-go.

There will be a reschedule for an evening party in September and a day party in later August (maybe the Labour Day long weekend) which will probably be a scavenger hunt party. Let me know if you're interested/available/have suggestions.

Other events that are needing scheduling are:
Memphis Meat Night Part II
Punch-Drunk Love screening Part II
Celebration of Light night(s)
On the town evening
A plethora of birthdays needing to be drank to

If any interest you keep me posted and I'll get organizing.

Confessions of a rum-addled mind, vol. 9

[this issue: my links, Vancouver island and invite]

** MY LINKS **

http://www.kthxdie.com/Videos/sexKungFu.mpg
...this just frightens me. Imagine if Ang Lee and Ron Jeremy made a movie together...crouching tigress hidden snake...I don't know...I just can't bear to see it again. I think it's from a movie called the Chinese Torture Chamber Story.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit
...this is a site hosted by a guy who visually demonstrates various pranks including his credit card signature cycle and his routine of ingesting a variety of household substances that you really shouldn't...

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rui/BitterFilm.html
..."I love this shoooow"...no really, it's one that demands that YOU participate by reading the respective male or female lines out loud...Don Hertzfeldt 101.

** VANCOUVER ISLAND **

So Angela and I went on a short vacation to Vancouver Island from July 16th-22nd and I managed to fill up a roll of film which I'll post highlights of to accompany the details of each major stop.

After settling in to the cabin off Elliot beach in Ladysmith, we explored the surrounding neighborhood and found a trendy little cafe in Ladysmith that served sushi and had live music on Saturday nights. Transfer beach proved to be too murky for swimming and lacking in Kayak selection this year.

The Horne Lake caves, west of Qualicum past spider lake, were interesting to explore, especially if you get into the locked caves on one of the paid tours. Why lock a few of BC's 1500 caves? To protect the calcite formations beneath several hundred feet of sedimentary rock from souvenir hunters and oily hands...It was dank, dark and less than 10 deg Celsius, but I really wish I'd gone on the adventure tour where they drain caverns for you and let you crawl around on your belly and repel down seven stories...$100 later...also skipped Bungy zone, regrettably.

Qualicum Beach is one of the few points on the east coast with a visible bottom, sandy at that. With trusty goggles and water socks (needed a snorkel) I went out to sea a few hundred feet and found a ridge where the temperature dropped off that was littered with thousands of sand dollars, rivaled only by the sight of several bright purple starfish spotted underwater on the side of a rock at Elliot beach. Qualicum rocked...as did the 30 flavors of soft serve right on the beach.

We went rollerblading with my Aunt Helen at the big community complex off Northfield road in Nanaimo. As you can see, we had a blast while people weren't walking their dogs on the track...something about people on wheels (albeit bikes or blades) that makes dogs want to kill...

PIC
PIC

KAYAKING! Right off the Nanaimo harbor around Newcastle island, right next to Gareth's fabled protection island...We rented a super-cheap ocean K2 and departed from the south point of departure bay, with calm waters through the passage and almost no wind. Check out these formations off Newcastle:

PIC
PIC

Here's Angela right before we hit the north end of the island and the whitecaps that produced a 2 foot chop...a little scary but we kept our wits about us and remained facing INTO the wake. Whitewater should be a breeze after that...

PIC

We returned to the harbor to catch the trail end of the silly boat festival, a small fair and some cool novelty stores along the boardwalk. I LOVE ISLAND FARMS. THEY MAKE THE MOST AMAZING ICE CREAM, SHERBET AND FROGURT HANDS DOWN...WE BUY CRAP IN VANCOUVER.

On our last full day we drove the inland hwy 19 up to Campbell River to visit my friend Shannon from way back...I hardly recognized CR despite having lived there from 1991-1994. The cheesy double-decker bus fish'n'chip restaurant is gone...ironwood mall and tyee plaza have been outshined by a giant superstore mall with a really cool aboriginal store. Courtenay really offers more in a cultural sense with various galleries, restaurants and novelty shops. We found the most amazing tea store with ingredients imported from all over the world.
Comox valley had more of the artisans and studios that Angela sought...

This is a pic of Shannon and I leaning on my car after a flock of seagulls did a dive-bomb run the night before...all that in one night...

PIC

Here's me dropping off the keys with my uncle after he joined us for Chinese food.

PIC

** INVITE **
HOUSEWARMING PARTY on Saturday August 9th
4:00pm - Midnight

To welcome Angela to the "Boiler Room" and give people a chance to check out the new water-themed motif (no cooling effect) inspired by the works of Vern from Trading Spaces (my Hilde-inspired astroturf jungle idea was largely criticized).

Slightly different format...BBQ, tennis, swimming and just generally catching up. I'm hoping to do a partial potluck and get people to bring a few simple items to create a good dinner buffet (was going to BBQ burgers, wings, ribs, Yves thingies). LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN MAKE IT...so I can get numbers and figure out what people could possibly bring.

Can't pull an all-nighter this time, Ang has class early Sunday...

Previous gatherings have included:

* Duke's lackluster art selection

This was a testament to the fact that I really didn't care what was hanging on my walls...no offense to the one entrant who submitted for the art contest and astonishingly won.

* Duke vs. the sun

In the battle of man versus nature, bet on nature. I covered the windows with the cheapest reflective material I could find to make my apartment feel a bit less like Singapore in summer, only to further incur the sun's wrath and be accused of trying to run a grow-op.

FIN

MP3 Friday

Today's MP3 is an odd find. I have no idea where it was released, label, album or what-have-you. I imagine it fairly recently, but it is on none of the participating artists' most recent albums. It is called "Embarassed" and is performed by Slug (from Atmosphere), Eyedea (a slug protege), and Sage Francis. Each of these MCs individually, are among my favorites. Eyedea has some amazing mic skills for one fairly new to the game, Slug's delivery here isn't his best (but even so, is still better than most), and Sage always kills. I'm not sure who its produced by, but it's got a laid-back summer kind of feel that matches well with the various MC's deliveries. Enjoy this track, and if you like it you should definitely check out their individual efforts. (Although I imagine you might find Sage Francis to be quite different than this when you check his album out; it still rocks.)

Understanding Comics

I've got lots of free time on my hands, so I've been wasting my time doing these:

One
Two
Three
Four (NSFW?)

Check them out and if you have any feedback, email me at roland303 at shaw dot ca.

Some Changes

1. All previous comments are gone. POOF. So if you want to comment again, then go ahead. I decided that the other one was down too often (and for a week this time).

2. If you know Java programing (I may just pick this up to use this Halo comments), and want to do some "fun-fun" programming, drop an email or comment to me. I just want the comments box to look not too distant from the actual website. It's not too bad right now, so I may just learn basic Java for the hell of it. I do this blog stuff to write and learn to program and stuff.

3. I may be revamping this entire website in the next few weeks. And by revamp, I mean ENTIRELY. Things that will stay are: all posts, the archive, weekly links, event listings, audio section (may be expanded to include other tastes--drop me a note if you are interested) and hopefully the comments. It's going to be an aesthetic overhaul.

4. I got some email addresses this weekend at the Liver Destruction, but I wasn't typing to the best of my ability (".xom"?), so if you had friends here last weekend who are interested in further Clubhouse events, email on the email I sent to y'all--perhaps with a message to rsvp if they want on further Clubhouse events.

Mike came to the mainland for a stop over (to pick up stuff say "hi", etc.) and a bunch of us went over to Gareth's to catch Wild Zero and drink to the cries of "love knows no borders, no nationalities, no gender". And somehow a lot of beer and kissing happened. Even with Sophie & I being the only girls, and abstaining.

Like I said. A lot of beer. I think Gareth and Jordan went through a case of beer in a couple hours. I wasn't clear on the specifications, but looking back, it seemed like quite a bit. Here's Gareth proving my point.

There was nipple sharing. That's all I'm saying. All in good fun, I assure you. (I'm not sure Sophie even knows....)

And here are a couple of the G's chillin', yo.


Anyways, expect more images for other posters. I've email special pictures to special posters for them to post.

Thursday Link Day

Celebration of Light: Fireworks. I'm going to add these to the Last Time schedule. I love fireworks, and it's definitely an important time of the year for this Clubhouser.

Lebowski Fest 2003: I rolled my eyes but I still read the whole thing. "It’s kind of a 'Star Trek' convention, but without all the geeks," suggested Jon Cook, a 28-year-old Louisville salesman." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

CULT CHART: Y'know, it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't a Christian group that put a Christian group (themselves) onto a chart labeled "cult". But there it is. Bonus reading. Because evolution should be taught as a "theory" when it comes to biology...

The Georgia Straight: In case you don't know what to do tonight.

Twenty Questions: Twenty questions with a computer.

Animal Names: "Check out that fall of woodcocks!" "That's the coolest ascension of larks!" Impress your mother with your knowledge.

Einstein-Freud letters: What would it be like if these two were to converse on war? Interesting.

Just Concerts: Tax dollars at work for you.

"Clubhouse Summer"

This is the tentative title for the August 16th gathering at the Clubhouse. Grae wanted the theme to be summer, however, with Duke's latest invitation I think I may want to switch the theme into one of a few that have been bouncing around.

The first being a scavenger hunt. In one sense, a bunch of you just did one earlier this year (where the hell was I, and why on earth did I have to miss this!?) and doing another one might just be overkill so soon. Plus I'd think a daytime scavenger hunt would be more fun and since both Clubhouse kids work on Saturdays, it would have to be a Sunday. Which may be done for September. At least that will be far enough from the last one, and still warm enough if it runs into the evening. May need to do it Polaroid style or digital camera style. Instant photographs rather than bringing stuff back (although...).

Another is the Sorority initiation. But I honestly think that this is another during-the-day kind of thing, as well as it should be left up to the Sorority House to host it... But I'm soooo excited for a mammoth food fight (and children in Africa are starving).

Grae's for summer costumes, so maybe some kind of costume themed party is in order (with prizes, of course). I just can't think of anything right now, and giving people 3 1/2 weeks to put together a costume (that isn't everyday wardrobe) might be unfair.
I will be sending out an email regarding all of this once everything is posted and sorted on here.

Liver Destruction Party Images

First of all, I'm going to be inviting in a few more writers (because we need more writers, more events, more, more, more!). Including Marsha (whose email I left at home). Marsha, along with Megan, Jason/Jay, Chad/Chadwick and Anthony/Tony, were shuttled in by Ava (and presumably Jon), were absolutely hilarious. As it turns out Jason now plays with Freebase. This all came about from an autographed photo that Aidan gave me a few months back (while he was a) still living with Curtis and b) both of them were still with Freebase). At their pad on Robson, they had hanging by the door this black and white glossy promo, signed and framed. I fell into the hallway of their building laughing so hard at the pretentiousness of the whole thing. Curtis and Aidan signed for the four members and gave it to me. It made its way to the Fridge of Fame. Jason comes running up to me and says, "You know Freebase! You're the first person to know my band."

Grae was the only one to authentically attempt the Edward Fortyhands. His co-conspirators all backed out for one reason or another. Trevor couldn't find a "good" selection of 40s, and Andrew had the worst luck. He went to the liquor store and bought two (2) bottles of malt liquor beverage in the 40 oz. container. He then went to a phone booth to make one (1) phone call. During this phone call, one (1) thief ran by and stole two (2) bottles of malt liquor beverage. Andrew then went back into the liquor store to buy two (2) more bottles of malt liquor beverage and exited the store again. Upon exiting the liquor branch, one (1) bum bumped into him dropping two (2) bottles of malt liquor to the ground. At this point Andrew turned around and went home. He let the bad karma get to him and did not make it to the party.


Dave, however, had to work at 5am, but came out to drink his India Pale Ale. He asked me where he should put his beer box. And I said:








Even with all the backing outs, bad karma, and general unavailability of 40s, Owen decided that he wanted in on the Fortyhands (if only because Grae was all on his own). Due to the closing of the liquor store at 9, he was forced to turn to the only thing we had in large quantities in large bottles that we would not overly miss: Wine. We're now removed of all wine at our house (which is genuinely impressive).

There was success to be had with this drinking game. However, the other contender let his bottle slip to the ground (like he had a lot of control with no hands that were sweating away the duct tape) and gave up shortly after. Warm 40s, warm wine and somehow the drinking continued. Grae managed to pee while 40'd. I forgot to ask him how he managed... Or maybe I don't want to know.


As for the Moneybucks game, the winner was already announced as being Trevor. A well deserved position, as he was the only one I had known to have gotten ill over the process of the night. Which super rocked. For all that liver destruction, people were really cool about it all and no extreme disaster required clean up. One broken bottle (Fortyhands), a few spills from an overfull fridge, and Shadow knocked over a mug in the bathroom.



Trevor, this is the girl who has your money (if you're missing it).


Click to enlarge.
If this was just after Fortyhands had ended, there were more bottles to come. There ended up being one full garbage bag of empties. And not just half full or ¾ full. It was damn heavy full. Although all this chaos and cleaning up afterwards this made me realize an outdoor ashtray/paint bucket needs to be designated from now on.

Sophie finally got her Zima (which was surprisingly tasty, but this might have been well after the fact).

Liver Destruction Party in (brief) Review

It was a good time had by all and only one person (that I know of) got ill. The alcohol was flowing and Moneybucks was a huge success. Trevor walked away with the gift certificates (sort of... I think Emily took them for safer keeping) with the winning "$1,400". And if nothing else, Trevor showed pure competitive spirit for this. Pictures will be up by Wednesday (pix being developed and cd'd tonight). Met some really cool new people. I'm sure everyone has better stories to tell than I do. I was just maintaining the place while trying my hardest to not drink to excess. Apologies for those that I didn't get a chance to chill with. We'll catch up at a late August party (to be announced).

craptacular crap-a-thon 2!

hi all.

the beejster and i have finally gotten around to organizing our second crap-a-thon, this time with a very special guest: vancouver's own Jared Van Snellenberg in attendence. we will be screening the hopefully not very crappy Andrew Gurland film "Cheats". for more info on Andrew Gurland, go to ifilm.com and type in "gramaglia".

there will also be a surprise (this is where the crap comes in) & an impromtu q & a session.

please rsvp to filmgurl79@hotmail.com

date: tuesday july 22/03 (tommorow)
time: 7pm
brought to you by lari the leper productions

p.s. don't worry owen, we'll get to "fatal frames". i promise.